Edited by John Ayto and Ian Crofton

With thousands of contemporary words and phrases and a wide selection of entries on the cultural preoccupations of our times, Brewer’s Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable is an invaluable guide to modern language and culture. Focusing on the 20th and 21st centuries, it applies the trademark Brewer’s treatment to a fascinating selection of buzzwords, catchphrases, slang, nicknames, fictional characters and intriguing cultural phenomena from pop culture to politics, literature to technology.

Encompassing everything from the Battle of Britain to the Brazilian wax, McCarthyism to McDonald’s and Waiting for Godot to Wallace and Gromit, Brewer’s Modern is wonderfully diverse, addictively browsable and bound to broaden your horizons.

Bibliographic Information

Publisher:

Chambers Harrap Publishers

Print Publication Date:

2009

Published online:

2011

Current Online Version:

2011

DOI:

10.1093/acref/9780199916108.001.0001

eISBN:

9780199916108

Authors

John Ayto,editor

Ian Crofton,editor

John Ayto is a lexicographer and writer who lives in London. He edited the 17th edition of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, and co-authored (with Ian Crofton) Brewer’s Britain and Ireland. His other authorial credits include The Oxford Dictionary of Slang, The Bloomsbury Dictionary of Word Origins and Twentieth Century Words. He was a contributor to the Oxford Dictionary of Food.

Ian Crofton is a writer and editor. His previous Brewer’s titles are Brewer’s Curious Titles, Brewer’s Britain and Ireland (with John Ayto) and Brewer’s Cabinet of Curiosities. His other publications include A Dictionary of Musical Quotations and A Dictionary of Art Quotations, and he was editor-in-chief of The Guinness Encyclopedia. He also lives in London.

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Contents

Front Matter

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